According to a recent study, completed by the scientists from the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, USA, regular bedtime is important for heart health and metabolism.

A team of scientists examined the sleeping patterns of approximately 2,000 adults aged between 54 and 93. None of them had a history of sleep disorders. Having analyzed the received data, the researchers found that volunteers with irregular bedtime had a higher body mass index, the higher level of blood sugar and blood pressure, as well as increased levels of hemoglobin A1C.

The lead researcher Jessica Lunsford-Avery, Ph. D., an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences from the Duke University Medical Center, says: “Heart disease and diabetes are extremely common in the United States, are extremely costly and also are leading causes of death in this country. To the extent we can predict individuals at risk for these diseases, we may be able to prevent or delay their onset.”

A new study finds that people with prediabetes who prefer evening activities and go to bed late have higher chances to gain weight than early risers with the same condition.

A team of researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine examined 2,133 people with prediabetes aged 64 years on average. Scientists assessed their preferences for going to bed late and waking up early, respectively.

Dr. Sirimon Reutrakul, an associate professor of endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism, says: “Timing and duration of sleep are potentially modifiable […] People can have more regular bedtimes and aim to have more sleep, which may help reduce BMI and the potential development of diabetes in this high-risk group.”

A recent research, published in the European Respiratory Journal, finds that sleep apnea, a common disorder that interferes with the breathing while sleeping, is connected to the changes in brain structure similar to changes seen in early dementia.

For the study, 83 participants were involved with the age from 51 to 88. They reported memory and mood problems to their doctors. None of them was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) They underwent memory tests and MRI brain scans.

Having analyzed the received data, the scientists concluded that a low level of oxygen in blood during sleep was associated with the loss of thickness of the right and left temporal lobes of the brain. These brain structures play important role in memory processes and proved to be changed in dementia.

More information about Sleep Apnea and its symptoms you may find here.

A new study that included about one million people in Britain finds that people who wake up late, so-called night owls, have 10% higher risk of dying sooner than people who rise and set with the sun.

For the study, the scientists have analyzed information on more than 430,000 people aged from 38 to 73 from a public database, who defined themselves as “definitely a morning person” (27%), “more a morning person than evening person” (35%), “more an evening person than a morning person” (28%), or “definitely an evening person” (9%).

One of the authors of the study Kristen Knutson of Northwestern University in Chicago says: “The higher risk may be because people who up late have an internal biological clock that doesn’t match their external environment. It could be psychological stress, eating at the wrong time for the body, not exercising enough, not sleeping enough, being awake at night by yourself, maybe drug or alcohol use.”